


i couldn't keep you, but i'll keep my word

by niallcentric



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-29
Updated: 2012-11-29
Packaged: 2017-11-19 21:03:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/577630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niallcentric/pseuds/niallcentric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe Harry liked Niall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i couldn't keep you, but i'll keep my word

**Author's Note:**

> Way back when I first wrote this, it was the first Narry fic I'd ever done. I was kind of testing the waters of One Direction fan fiction. I still have a soft spot for it.

Maybe Harry liked Niall.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. Niall was a pretty likeable guy. Everyone liked Niall. The professors liked Niall and he wasn’t even a good student. It was perfectly acceptable for Harry to like Niall.

They were friends. Friends liked friends or else they wouldn’t be friends. Actually, Harry hadn’t even known they were friends until suddenly they _were_. They’d ran into each other at the campus bookstore before the semester started. Niall had been wearing a blue snapback and a pink tank top. Harry only remembered because he was waiting in line behind him to purchase his textbooks when someone bumped into him, causing the books to go flying. Niall’d turned when Harry bent down to retrieve them and got a face full of soft pink tank top. Harry felt disgruntled and maybe a little embarrassed when the boy started laughing loudly like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. He had a nice laugh, but Harry was able to wave that aside when he didn’t even bother helping him recollect his books.

About a week later Harry was eating in the café with his friend Liam who he’d met in the gym a few days before. One minute he was munching delightfully on his chips whilst Liam rambled on about a pretty girl he saw stretching on the field that morning and the next someone was pulling the chair out beside him and taking a seat like they’d been invited. Before Harry had the chance to glance up to see who it was, a pale hand was reaching into his basket of chips and taking one. Harry made a sound of protest but it died in his throat once a pair of bright blue eyes distracted him. The only reason Harry recognized him was because he was wearing that same blue snapback.

“What are you—“ Harry had started to say, only to be interrupted.

“C’mon,” the blue-eyed stranger (acquaintance?) drawled. “Sharing is caring. We’re all friends here, right?” he had a distinctly different accent but his voice was noticeably higher than Harry’s and Liam’s. Harry looked to Liam, wondering if maybe the two knew each other, only to receive a shrug.

Like any normal human being, Harry wanted to grab his basket of chips and kindly ask the boy to fuck off. But for some reason he knew that would hurt the blonde’s feelings and Harry’s gut was telling him that’s the last thing he wanted to do. So against his better judgment, he kept the basket of chips within reaching distance and shrugged with a careless, “Whatever.” Niall beamed.

It took a while for Harry to get used to him. Not necessarily because he didn’t like him (no, it _really_ wasn’t that), he was just so outspoken. And unpredictable. When Harry told him he was studying Law and Sociology, Niall’s response was, “Ew, why?” Harry sputtered for a moment until he got out, “Because I want to?” It came out as more of a question rather than a definitive statement like he’d been going for. Niall told him he was boring.

Harry knew he wasn’t a boring person. He mooned his teacher when he was thirteen. Granted, four of his other friends did it with him and the teacher had no idea it was them. But Harry did risky things. He could be spontaneous. He even went on a mini road trip with this girl he sort-of-liked the summer before he first started University. There were a lot of firsts on that vacation, most of which he didn’t enjoy thinking about. But upon his return, his mate Louis took one look at him and slapped him on the back with a teasing, “Hazza, you dog.” He felt pretty accomplished nonetheless.

But next to Niall, anyone was boring in comparison. He was the life of his own party and everyone else’s parties, too. “Come for a drink,” he’d always say, tugging on Harry’s shirt. Harry was a naturally good student; he rarely had to try to get good grades. Nevertheless, every now and then he’d want to sit down and study to make sure he was prepared for an exam. But with Niall around, that never happened.

He would find himself on the couch of whoever’s flat late into the evening, nursing a beer in one hand and a clingy Niall in the other after the boy managed to greet everyone there, even the people he didn’t know that he would still consider friends anyway.

The blonde draped himself over Harry every chance he got when he had one too many to drink, resting his chin on Harry’s shoulder while gazing at him through half-lidded eyes like he was trying to figure him out. Harry would shift under his stare but return the gaze anyway because it always gave him this fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach to look at Niall. Especially if Niall was looking back. Then a dopey grin would spread across Niall’s face and he’d bite Harry’s shoulder, leaving teeth marks in the fabric.

“M’nose is numb,” Niall muttered this time, only partially slurring his words. His lazy tone was muffled by the loud music and the fact that half his face was stuffed into the curls at the nape of Harry’s neck. His breath tickled the hairs there and Harry shivered, realizing a few seconds too late that he was smiling. He squeezed Niall’s hand that he hadn’t remembered holding. Niall’s fingers laced between his like they were meant to be there and he lifted his head. “Is it still there?”

Harry flicked a strand of hair out of Niall’s eyes, resting a finger there at his hairline and scratching his scalp fondly. “Yes Ni, your nose is still there,” he trailed his finger down over his brow and poked him in the nose. Niall scrunched up his face. “Cute,” Harry murmured. He reckoned that probably wasn’t meant to be said out loud but he really didn’t care. Niall’s dopey smile was back.

“M’lips are numb, too,” his pale fingers that weren’t tangled in Harry’s played with his lips, tracing them like he was making sure he still had them. Harry watched as he licked his lips, wetting them. He had to bite the inside of his cheek before he did something stupid like kiss him or confess his undying love for him.

“That happens sometimes when you drink alcohol, love.”

Niall hummed and nuzzled back into Harry’s neck, only relaxing when he breathed in the familiar scent. He traced the veins on Harry’s hand with his fingertip, caressing back and forth.

Maybe it was weird that Harry only felt balanced when he had Niall attached to his side and strangely incomplete when he didn’t. They weren’t even that good of friends, Niall clinged to everyone. Liam was still warming up to Niall’s grabby hands but Louis had taken to him with open arms. Harry’d caught them in compromising positions many a time whenever Niall crashed at Louis’ place. They were both energetic so it seemed almost natural for them to gravitate to one another, especially when one needed a warm body to snuggle at night. It didn’t bother Harry.

But even if it did, he was able to get it all out of his system after a party like this when Niall would go back to Harry’s room with him and strip before climbing into his bed and stealing all his covers. Harry was okay with that as long as he could spoon Niall and get warm that way.

And maybe it was weird if Harry stole a few kisses while Niall was dosing. It wasn’t entirely his fault. He was pleasantly buzzed from the alcohol and he felt mellow and properly sleepy cuddling into the angel in his arms. Niall would giggle into his pillow as Harry’s lips ghosted over the back of his neck, licking a stripe and blowing cool air on it just so he could see Niall’s goosebumps and know he was the cause of them. And maybe it was dangerous to wake up the following morning, verging on a headache as he watched Niall steal one of his shirts because he was late for one of his classes, and feeling an aching pull in his stomach as Niall walked further and further away from him. His mind was begging him to speak up, ask Niall to come back to bed and maybe stay with him forever. He might’ve done the first part had Niall not needed to go to Maths.

But he was met with a radiant, if not a bit tired, smile from the blonde-haired boy who scampered forward to plant a sloppy kiss on his forehead before flying out the door while pulling on a pair of Harry’s shoes since he seemed to have misplaced his own.

Maybe Harry was setting himself up for a lot of disappointment. Maybe Harry really didn't give a shit.

And yeah, maybe Harry did like Niall.


End file.
